Posted on 04/19/2016 4:00:30 PM PDT by Homer1
I have a brokerage account. A person with the same name as me passed away and the broker transferred all of my shares to his heirs.
What legal actions can I take? What rights do I have? Anybody in the financial industry that can weigh in...it would be appreciated.
Thanks
What does your broker say? Has he contacted the family to explain the mistake?
Get.
A.
Lawyer.
Stupid.
The brokerage house should clean up the mess. In the meantime, I might call the attorney general and/or your CPA if you use one.
They just need to reverse the transaction.
It’s your property.
Calmly explain (via an attorney) that you want your shares back, and any legal fees/expenses involved. I wouldn’t care where they get those shares (IOW, they can buy you ‘new’ ones and let their mistake stand), but you want them replaced.
It took me a week to get my name back on the account and I just pieced together what happened....that are closed for today, but I am calling tomorrow...I’m hoping to be prepared for that conversation....
They are required to make you whole, do not accept any financial or tax hit, they own every expense associated with their blunder.
For everyone reading this thread make a note: Fill out a beneficiary document with your broker for each account!
Schwab had my wife and I designate the primary and secondary beneficiaries. If this type of document had been in force, then they might have mistakenly distributed your account, but at least the funds would have been delivered to appropriate parties.
I am not in the securities industry, nor am I a lawyer, but what they did is beyond outrageous.
If I were in your situation, I would immediately write a letter to the firm, demanding that they rectify their mistake and restore your accounts as they were. Be sure to include your SS No and point out that they had no right to take your account and hand the content to someone else.
I think this would not preclude your taking additional actions, if needed.
That’s like playing Monopoly. Bank Error in their favor. Or something like that.
Clearly you need to be compensated for the inconvenience ...for not having access to your account.
BTW: Make sure you are prepared to prove that you are alive! :)
Well, I’m pretty sure it’ll be okay after you notify them tomorrow. They’ll know it was an obvious mistake on their part.
They will be so afraid of getting in trouble that they will rush to fix everything once you call them. The industry is highly regulated, and they certainly don’t want their regulator to hear about this!
From post #7
“Calmly explain (via an attorney) that you want your shares back, and any legal fees/expenses involved. I wouldn’t care where they get those shares (IOW, they can buy you ‘new’ ones and let their mistake stand), but you want them replaced.”
All of the above, PLUS:
Make sure the BH does not hand you any losses incurred in the interim (and includes any gains that may have accrued) be sure the interest is calculated properly. These are the REAL weasels of the financial business and they will cheat you somehow to pay for their mistake.
IMPORTANT: Prearrange the above for a transfer to another broker. Do not accept any excuses.
You do have proof that you own the account?
You should just need to show that to your broker and make him responsible.
Of course, do not relinquish ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS.
Give the broker time to clear it up (2-3 days at most). If he hasn’t, then you might need to seek an attorney.
You might try a simple phone call to the brokerage customer service first.
Get a lawyer. Sue them with the ferocity of a liberal at a welfare office.
I have a brokerage account
With what firm?
If the price of the borrowed shares goes above the price they were at, you can be damn sure the brokerage will come to you demanding the shares, or the money to buy them right then on the open market. No matter what the price went up to, you've gotta pony up, or else they come after you with guns blazing. That's a big reason why people tried to fly off skyscrapers back in 1929. Some checked out back in 2008, although I don't think any did it by taking the big dive.
So the brokerage just reversed the situation. In effect, they borrowed the shares from you and loaned them to someone else. They've got to get your shares back one way or the other, just like they'd make you do if you were the borrower in a short squeeze.
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